The Awakening
'''Chloe Saunders is on the run and raising hell. Literally. '''Chloe Saunders is not your average supernatural teenager. Genetically altered at birth by a sinister team of scientists, she can barely control her terrifying powers. then the scientists decide they want to stop the experiment. permanently. Now Chloe is running for her life along with a charming sorceror, a troubled werewolf and a temperamental young witch. Together they have a chance for freedom - but can Chloe trust her new friends? The Second Book in the Darkest Powers Trilogy. The Awakening takes place directly after the events in The Summoning. Chloe has been recaptured by The Edison Group, a team of supernatural scientists responsible for manipulating her DNA, therefore enhancing her necromantic abilities. The novel starts after fifteen year old Chloe Saunders has been moved to an unknown location. She realizes that her Aunt Lauren, who works as a doctor for The Edison Group, has betrayed her. She is visited by the spirit of her friend, Liz Delaney, and is now certain that her belief that Liz was killed by The Edison Group is correct. Liz, who is unaware of her death, takes the news badly and disappears. Chloe attempts to contact her but accidentally summons the ghost of a former patient of Lyle House, Brady Hirsch. Brady confirms that he was purposely murdered by members of The Edison Group. He informs Chloe of a conversation he overheard between Dr. Davidoff and her Aunt Lauren in which they discuss Chloe's fellow escapee, a young werewolf called Derek Souza. Worried by Lauren's assertion that Derek should be killed, Chloe decides to escape again so she can warn Derek and his adoptive brother, Simon Bae. In the meantime, she realizes that both Rachelle Rodgers and Victoria Enright, both of whom were patients at Lyle House, are being held at the same facility. Considering the circumstances, Chloe is surprised by Dr.Davidoff's friendliness. He informsher that he, and everyone else who is a member of The Edison Group, are also supernaturals. He is a half demon and Diane Enright, Tori's mother, is a witch. He assures her that he only wants to help her and the others. The group, named after Thomas Edison, aimed to improve the lifestyles of supernaturals, giving them more moderate abilities in order to help them better assimilate into human society. He takes Chloe to his office and gives her a book about her specific abilities. She feigns interest but as soon as Dr.Davidoff leaves for lunch, she searches through his computers- aided in finding the password from a mysterious demi-demon. During her search, she finds more information about The Edison Group and discovers that she, and others like her, are experimental subjects who were genetically modified at birth. However, some of the experiments backfired, increasing their powers and making them volatile and unstable. Those 'failures' who could not be rehabilitated at Lyle House were considered a threat and, to ensure that the secrecy and safety of the supernatural world remained unthreatened, were removed from Lyle House and killed. During her stay at the facility, in which Chloe tries to find a way to escape, Dr Davidoff asks her to help the group recapture Derek and Simon, who according to Davidoff, is a diabetic in urgent need of insulin. Chloe believes that Davidoff is trying to trick her and resists, giving in only when she considers the possibilities for escape. She cites concern for Simon as the reason for her change of heart and Davidoff asks her to lead him, and Diane Enright, to the location where Chloe was supposed to meet the boys. Tori, overhearing the conversation, demands to go with them. Having recently discovered that she is in fact a witch, she is angry, irritated and wants to go shopping. When Dr. Davidoff refuses, Tori whispers something in his ear that quickly makes him change his mind. Chloe is impressed with her successful attempts at blackmail. Chloe leads them to the factory where she was supposed to meet Derek and Simon. She is careful to steer them away from the actual meeting point but after a few unsuccessful searches, is paired with Diane Enright. Chloe attempts to overpower her with the help of Liz and a plank of wood but is unsuccessful. After a few threats and warnings, Diane expresses her admiration of Chloe's abilities and negatively compares them to her daughter's. Overhearing this, Tori attacks her mother though her limited knowledge of spells make it hard for her to do much damage. When her mother calls her a spoiled brat, Tori tells her that she doesn't really know her at all. Diane eventually overpowers Tori until Chloe takes her out with a lead pipe. Both Diane and Aunt Lauren track them down. The scuffle ends with Diane hitting Lauren with a seemingly fatal spell. As Chloe tries to go to her Aunt, Tori drags her away, explaining that they need to leave or they'll be recaptured- or worse. The two girls run and hide. While hiding out, Chloe reads a letter her Aunt Lauren gave her which explains her reasons for taking part in the experiments. She only ever wanted to help young supernaturals but it wasn't until her own niece was in danger that she realized exactly what she had become a part of. Tori and Chloe continue to hide out though their relationship is still as antagonistic as ever. The following day, Derek and Simon track them down. Chloe notes how good it is to see Derek and how he looks so much better than he did a few days ago. Both of the guys grumble at Tori's presence though Derek takes it a step further when he demands that she leaves and fends for herself. He doesn't trust her and doesn't want her with them. Chloe is horrified and tells him that if Tori has to leave, then she will go with her. After Simon shows his discomfort at Derek's attitude and backs Chloe's decision, Derek relents and tells Tori that she can stay but he'll be keeping an eye on her. The four of them decide to stick to the plan devised in the first novel. They are going to try and find Kit Bae, Simon and Derek's father, who will be able to help them all. They bed down in an abandoned house where Chloe accidentally raises a corpse while sleeping. Derek helps her release the spirit from its decomposing body, though not before Chloe realizes that she can control the zombie and that the zombie isn't very happy about that fact. Her effort gains the attention of Simon and Tori, who upon seeing the zombie, screams the place down. Derek tells them that they have to leave quickly in case anyone heard Tori's screaming. Derek implores Chloe and Tori to hide while he and Simon try to find shelter. Tori, irritated at being ordered around, runs off to find somewhere warm and Chloe follows her. Their presence attracts the attention of a girl gang who threaten them and demand Tori's jacket and Chloe's shoes. Tori refuses, attacking the girls with spells when they come at her with a knife. While the girls recover, Tori and Chloe run off, though Tori doesn't stop to help when one of the gang members catch up with Chloe. Without Tori's spells, Chloe is defenseless. She tries to talk her way out of the situation but to no avail. As the girl goes to cut her cheek, she is thrown off by Derek who rages at Chloe for not doing as she was told and following Tori. While there is still bad feeling between Chloe and Derek, the group make plans to travel to Albany to find Andrew, a friend of their father's. Derek is worried at the prospect of traveling through Pack territory. Simon brushes off his concerns telling him that the Pack who as far as Derek knows, relegate the comings and goings of werewolves through fear and force, will hardly be checking the bus-stops for teenage werewolves. Later on, Chloe is woken by Derek who tells her that he feels another change coming on. Knowing that the metamorphosis from human to werewolf is a scary process and even more so for Derek who still hasn't been able to complete a full change, she offers to go with him and asks Tori to inform Simon that if they don't make it back to the bus, they will meet up in Albany. After finding a secluded spot in the woods, Derek attempts to change but only makes it halfway before his body forces the change back to human. His efforts leave him exhausted and he falls asleep. While waiting for him to wake, and not wanting to disturb him, Chloe is left watching a ghost echo of a young woman being murdered. The experience leaves her terrified and when she confides in Derek the next morning, he gently chides her for not waking him. They set off for Albany but are thwarted by lack of money and unhelpful ticket sellers. Eventually, they hide in the back of a truck until they are discovered by the driver. Despite his misguided attempts to help them, Derek overpowers him and ties him up. He tells Chloe that they can't really trust anyone. Even those who try to help them could end up making things worse. Chloe unhappily accepts this fact. The two get to know each other better as they walk into the next town, though their peace is soon disrupted by an encounter with two werewolves, Liam and Ramon. Derek quickly notes them as a threat and tries to talk his way out of a fight but the werewolves are having none of it. They threaten Chloe, leaving one of them to comment that she must be Derek's mate, judging by how protective he is towards her. The standoff ends in a brutal fight. Chloe intervenes, stabbing Liam in the leg and after another altercation, she and Derek manage to escape. Once safe, Derek leads her to a bathroom and urgently wipes blood off her face, worried that she may become infected and turn into a werewolf. He tells her that according to his father, the change isn't that simple but he still wants to make sure. Chloe notes that Derek seems pretty beat up himself. They manage to catch a bus heading to Albany and Chloe falls asleep on Derek's shoulder. They make it to Andrew's house and are concerned to find it empty. Though everything seems in place, there are subtle signs that someone has left in a rush. They are still looking around when they find Tori and Simon bedding down in the guesthouse. After having spent some time alone with him, Tori is apparently over her crush on Simon and they bicker back and forth until told to stop. They decide to lay low there for the night and figure out how to proceed in the morning. Chloe takes Derek some food while he is outside guarding the property. She confesses her concerns over the strength of her powers and her inability to use them properly. Derek suggests that she experiments on dead animals and offers to help her. While they are testing Chloe's abilities, the Edison Group attacks them. They try to outwit and escape the group, though Chloe notes that this time they are firing actual bullets. Derek leads them off so the others can escape. While hiding, Chloe hears a voice, that sounds a lot like Aunt Lauren's, guiding her to safety. She realizes with some panic, that she wouldn't hear Lauren unless she was dead and wonders if The Edison Group have killed her Aunt for trying to help her escape. Chloe meets up with Derek and Simon and they hear over the radio that Tori has been captured. Derek begrudgingly decides to go look for her though he implies that if he doesn't find her, they'll have to leave her behind. Chloe notes with some guilt that she is willing to forfeit Tori's life in order to keep herself, Simon and Derek safe. While Derek is looking for Tori, Chloe and Simon are approached by a man that Simon recognizes as Andrew Carson, the man they've been looking for. Andrew helps them to safety and Derek arrive with Tori, who apparently stumbled upon him while escaping. Andrew seems wary around Derek. They escape to a van and Andrew tells them that he's taking them to a safe house for supernaturals where they can rest up and eventually help take down The Edison Group. The book ends with Chloe reflecting on everything that has happened and how easy her life was before. Everything has been tipped upside down and things will never be the same again. She's different and this is her normal now. Category:Darkest Powers Series